Dealing with Pressure

One of the things top athletes and rugby players have to deal with is the pressure that is placed upon them. Media, fans, friends, team mates, coaches and the athletes themselves can all have an effect on the levels of pressure on players. It is how they deal with this that is likely to have an impact on winning or losing.

Pressure comes mostly when players focus on the past or the future rather than the present. If you think about the outcome rather than the process or focus on previous mistakes and remember failures rather than using positive imagery to develop confidence and belief you are at a disadvantage straight away. Worrying about mistakes is more likely to help you make another one; it is not going to help you succeed in any way.

Failure is something we all have to deal with. The best players in the world have all, at some point in their careers, failed in some way. However, those who are successful in the sporting world and in the business world are not afraid to fail. Failure can teach more lessons than success and continual development is what we, as sportsmen and women, need to be able to succeed in the long term. Don’t think about what will happen when you lose, who us going to get dropped, whose fault is it going to be. Think from a positive perspective; we are going to win this game and I am going to make a valued contribution to the team. Then all you need to do is enjoy your game and do what you are good at, the reason you are playing in the team anyway.

What really happens if you lose? Nothing really. The important things in life are your family, your health and the happiness of you and those around you. Perspective has had a big impact on my career in the past few seasons – I simply go out every week looking to enjoy myself and do what I am good at. I don’t feel any pressure and I think I have performed far better because of this. If you do lose, you will get up again the next day and live to fight on. I only wish that learnt this perspective on my life sooner than I actually did.

Pressure is something that is talked about a great deal by coaches and media. Don’t listen is my advice. Who wants to know and who is going to benefit from thinking that they are under pressure? Try to view the game in the right way, think if the reasons why you started playing, what you are good at and your value to the team and also keep thinking to yourself that you play best when you are relaxed. By thinking relax, you will! Less tension and effort will help sprinters be faster and more powerful. You will have heard the commentators speak about 100 metre runners looking relaxed or tense in the shoulders. The winners and those that win medals are always the runners who are relaxed.

Decision-making can also be affected by the feeling of pressure. When players are under pressure, people act rashly, your pulse speeds up and decisions are influenced by it. Try to take some deep breaths, think positive thoughts and bring yourself back into the present where you are not thinking in the past (about previous failures) or in the future (about the outcome of the game). This may sound very matter of fact but you need to practice this to make sure you are able to do this when you need to.

People deal with pressure in different ways but you should really try and change your ways of dealing with it – don’t worry at all. Think of the things that matter in life, what really matters to you and you will find when things are in the correct perspective that one loss is not the end of the world.